Just less than two weeks ago De Soto finished well ahead of THS at the Rim Rock Classic as the Wildcats finished in second to Tonganoxie’s sixth.

The Chieftain boys caught up with their former league foe at the Tonganoxie Invitational.

THS finished the race with 61 points and secured the team title as second-place De Soto scored 70.

“I was actually surprised,” THS coach Phil Williams said. “I didn’t expect us beating De Soto. They crushed us last week.”

The difference was simple. Tonganoxie’s two through six runners had much better races. Tonganoxie’s No. 2 runner, Levi Huseman, finished in 12th place with a time of 17:56, while Tonganoxie’s sixth runner, Colt Coffin, finished high at 23rd with a 18:13 time. Andy Kolman again was Tonganoxie’s top runner. The senior finished in 16:51 for second place behind De Soto’s Casey Johnson (16:34).

“We can’t be 50 places back from Andy,” Williams said. “We need to be closer.”

The boys team certainly did that on their home course. Every runner medaled as the Chieftains won their second meet of the season. Tonganoxie also won their home quadrangular to start the season, but instead of four teams, Thursday’s meet had 21 teams participating.

Joining Kolman, Huseman and Coffin in the top echelon of the invitational were Colin Perkins, Brett Garrett and Matt Chenoweth, who finished within five seconds of each other. Perkins placed 14th (18:02), Garrett 15th (18:04) and Chenoweth 18th (18:07).

Behind THS and De Soto in the team standings were Anderson County in third with 94, Kansas City Christian fourth with 116 and Jeff West in fifth with 129. Olathe Northwest placed sixth (174), Mill Valley seventh (189), Eudora eighth (230) and Maranatha ninth (252). McLouth finished in 10th (256), Spring Hill in 11th (258), Liberty 12th (285) and Perry-Lecompton 13th (382). Basehor-Linwood, Lawrence’s Bishop-Seabury, Bishop-Ward, Kansas City Harmon, Lansing, Piper, Pleasant Ridge and Van Horn did not send full teams to the invitational.

THS will travel Thursday to Gardner-Edgerton Invitational. Meets begin at 4:15 p.m. The Gardner-Edgerton boys are the defending state champions in Class 5A.

Girls cross country

Christy Weller continued her tear in her first year of cross country. The freshman placed fifth with a 12:23 time. Eudora’s Brittney Graff won the meet with an 11:55 time. De Soto proved to be the runaway champion for the team title.

DHS scored 36 points for the top spot. Mill Valley placed second with 60, while EHS placed third with 76.

THS was hurting in the injury department Thursday. Rachel Bouza was out with an injury and Kezia Huseman couldn’t finish the race because of side cramps. Jennifer Wagner placed 25th with a 13:29 time. Megan Holton placed 48th (14:15), Kaitlynn Saathoff 52nd (14:18) and Kelley Stauch finished 82nd (15:17).